Episode 18 - A Complex Whole
The Ghent Altarpiece, Part 1
Jan and Hubert van Eyck, The Ghent Altarpiece (exterior), 1432
Oil on oak, open dimensions 11 ft 6 in x 15 ft (350 x 460 cm)
St. Bavo's Cathedral, Ghent
Exterior, after the treatment phase completed in 2016
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After 1950 treatment, before 2019 treatment
Interior - composite image approximating appearance after the treatment phase completed in 2020 and before the phase begun in 2023
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Interior detail after most recent treatment phase completed in 2020
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John the Baptist in Grisaille
After the treatment phase completed in 2016
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The original, currently missing, Just Judges
Black and white photograph taken in Berlin, early 20th century
Color image published in Winkler, 1921, reproduced in Kemperdick and Röẞler, 2015
The original, currently missing, Just Judges
Presumed self-portrait of Jan Van Eyck
After Rogier Van der Weyden, Portrait of Philip the Good,
Duke of Burgundy, c 1455
Oil on oak panel, 12.2 x 9 in (31 x 23 cm)
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon
Most recent treatment of John the Baptist in Grisaille
Left: Before treatment, with yellowed varnish and old retouching (appearance before 2012)
Center: During treatment, after removal of varnish and retouching, "actual state"
Right: After treatment, after inpainting losses (appearance after 2016)
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Most recent treatment of Joos Vijd Portrait
Left: Before treatment, with yellowed varnish and old retouching which modified drapery (appearance before 2012)
Center: During treatment, after removal of varnish and retouching, "actual state"
Right: After treatment, after inpainting losses (appearance after 2016)
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Most recent treatment of The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, completed 2020
During removal of 1550 overpaint that has been removed in the lower left of this image but remains at the top and right
From Griet Steyaert, Marie Postec, Jana Sanyova, Hélène Dubois, eds., The Ghent Altarpiece: Research and Conservation of the Interior: The Lower Register (Contributions to the Study of the Flemish Primitives, 16) 2021, p 21
https://closertovaneyck.kikirpa.be/ghentaltarpiece/#home/sub=documents
closertovaneyck.kikirpa.be
Michiel Coxcie, The Just Judges (after Van Eyck,) 1557
Oil on panel, 57.8 x 20 in (147 x 51 cm)
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels
Coxcie copy displayed together at Michiel Coxcie, The Flemish Raphael, at M-Museum Leuven, 2013, (c) Dirk Pauwels
Original The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (detail)
After treatment completed in 2020
Original The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (detail)
Before 2016, with overpaint of 1550
Original The Knights of Christ (detail)
After treatment completed in 2020
Michiel Coxcie, Self Portrait as Saint George
Detail
Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp
Manner of Jacopino del Conte, Portrait of Pope Paul IV, c 1556
Detail (flipped)
Palazzo Ducale Mantua
Michiel Coxcie, The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (After Van Eyck)
(detail) 1558
Oil on oak, 52 ½ x 92 ½ in (133 x 235 cm)
Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
Michiel Coxcie, The Knights of Christ (after Van Eyck,) (detail) 1557
Oil on panel, 57.8 x 20 in (147 x 51 cm)
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels
Workshop of Titian, Portrait of Philip II of Spain, c. 1550
Detail (flipped)
Museo del Prado, Madrid
Attributed to Lambert Sustris, formerly attributed to Titian, Portrait of Charles V, 1548 (detail)
Oil on canvas, 80 x 48 in (203.5 x 122 cm)
Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Original The Just Judges (detail)
Original The Just Judges (detail)
Michiel Coxcie, The Just Judges (After Van Eyck) (detail)
Proposed original display
from Griet Steyaert, "The Ghent Altarpiece: new thoughts on its original display," The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 157, No. 1343, Northern European art (February 2015), pp. 74-84
Recommended Reading
The most recent conservation project
https://closertovaneyck.kikirpa.be/
Bart Fransen, Cyriel Stroo, eds., The Ghent Altarpiece: Research and Conservation of the Exterior (Contributions to the Study of the Flemish Primitives) (Contributions to the Study of the Flemish Primitives, 14) 2020
https://closertovaneyck.kikirpa.be/ghentaltarpiece/#home/sub=documents
Griet Steyaert, Marie Postec, Jana Sanyova, Hélène Dubois, eds., The Ghent Altarpiece: Research and Conservation of the Interior: The Lower Register (Contributions to the Study of the Flemish Primitives, 16) 2021
https://closertovaneyck.kikirpa.be/ghentaltarpiece/#home/sub=documents
The mystery of Hubert van Eyck and the Ghent Altarpiece solved ‒ Interdisciplinary study of the research data of the second restoration phase
https://www.kikirpa.be/en/projects/the-mystery-of-hubert-van-eyck-and-the-ghent-altarpiece-solved
Third phase Ghent Altarpiece: First results promise stunning outcome, March 26, 2024
https://www.kikirpa.be/en/news/third-phase-ghent-altarpiece-first-results
Other scholarly technical research
Paul Coremans, L'Agneau Mystique au Laboratoire, Examen et Traitement (Contributions a l"Etude des Primitifs Flamands, 3) 1953
https://closertovaneyck.kikirpa.be/ghentaltarpiece/#home/sub=documents
Hélène Dubois, “The conservation history of The Ghent Altarpiece,” The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 160, No. 1386, (September 2018), pp. 754-765
Stephan Kemperdick and Johannes Röẞler, eds., The Ghent Altarpiece by the Brothers Van Eyck: History and Appraisal, 2015
Griet Steyaert, "The Ghent Altarpiece: new thoughts on its original display," The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 157, No. 1343, Northern European art (February 2015), pp. 74-84
Ruben Suykerbuyk, “Coxcie's copies of old masters: an addition and an analysis,” Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art
Vol. 37, No. 1 (2013–2014), pp. 5-24
A more popular history of the altarpiece
Noah Charney, Stealing the Mystic Lamb, 2010